Using a card reader? I think not.

Instructional material that appears on gas pumps might be the most unread documentation that we regularly encounter, so perhaps it's unfair to pick on the wording, but this supplemental instruction really caught my eye.

These, of course, are instructions about how to activate the pump when paying with a credit or debit card. But notice how the task is not at all user centric. Nobody wants to "use a card reader." They simply want to pay with something other than cash. The writer has confused with "how" with they "why."

Posted: February 27, 2011 link to this item, Tweet this item, respond to this item